Graveyard
The Graveyard is unlocked from the Spell Valley (Arena 5) or a Legendary Chest. It is a spell with a wide radius that spawns 16 Skeletons. The Skeletons appear one by one in random positions within the spell's radius. The Graveyard can be placed anywhere in the Arena. The Graveyard spell costs 5 Elixir to deploy. Strategy * An effective strategy is to place a high hitpoint unit, such as the Giant, and deploy the Graveyard near the Princess Tower. The Giant will tank the damage while the Skeletons destroy the tower. However, the strategy can be easily defeated by a combo of Valkyrie and Mini P.E.K.K.A./Inferno Tower for a positive Elixir trade, with the Valkyrie destroying the Skeletons and the Mini P.E.K.K.A./Inferno Tower destroying the Giant. *Since Graveyard can be placed anywhere on the map, it has great synergy with the Miner, as the Miner can tank for the skeletons as they decimate the tower. However, this combo is weak to the Valkyrie as she deals splash damage, and the Minion Horde as neither the skeletons nor the Miner can attack air units. This problem can be temporarily solved with a Tornado, as it can pull the units away from the Graveyard, allowing the skeletons to continue dealing damage. Also, if paired with a Zap or collateral damage from a Princess, it can completely destroy a Minion Horde. * Effective counters to the Graveyard include Goblins, Lumberjack, Barbarians, Archers, Guards, Valkyrie, Night Witch, Dart Goblin and Minions. Guards and Lumberjack are perfect counters to the Graveyard. They are both fast, the Lumberjack has high hitpoints, and the Guards' shields prove Zap-proof. The Lumberjack can still be shut down with a Fireball. * A Skeleton Army, Goblin Gang, or Dart Goblin can be great counters to the Graveyard for a 2 Elixir advantage. As they cover a large area, they can quickly react to the Skeletons that are newly spawned and destroy them before they have a chance to do any damage. However, they are susceptible to Zap, Arrows, and The Log. * If no good counter cards are available, Zap can be used to kill several grouped Skeletons. If the Zap is used too early, then the rest of the Skeletons will continue to attack the Princess Tower. * Units with large amounts of hitpoints such as the Giant and Golem can be used to take the damage from the spawned Skeletons from the Graveyard. * A possible counter to the Graveyard is the Poison, with the Poison covering most of the radius of the Graveyard and being able to kill the skeletons in 1 tick; however, some skeletons will still do damage to the Princess Tower as the Poison's continuous damage has a tick of 1 second, for a net cost of 1 Elixir. However, it is possible that the opponent may send in spawners or big pushes as an advantage. * On the other hand, the Poison works well with the Graveyard. The Poison can deal with enemy counters well, and can counteract enemy placements of Minions or other small troops. However, it is not effective against higher-health troops such as the Valkyrie. * The Graveyard can be a major counter to the Inferno Dragon and Sparky. The spawned Skeletons can easily distract the troops for a minimum of 8 seconds while the defending troops destroy the attacking units. * Pairing this card with the Freeze will allow the spawned Skeletons to survive longer and allow them to deal a lot more damage. Graveyard, Freeze, and Rage together is a high-risk, high-reward combo, costing a heavy 11 Elixir. Place down Graveyard, then cast the Rage, and once they put something to defend, place down the Freeze. If done correctly, this is able to take down a Crown Tower completely. However, the opponent can place other cards after the Freeze is cast, or make a push at the other side. * If your opponent does not react to the Graveyard, it is able to quickly rack up massive damage to a Princess Tower, most effectively used after making a positive Elixir trade. * Do not place this spell in the center of a targeted Princess Tower as there is a chance for a Skeleton to spawn near the King's Tower and activate it early. Instead, place it on the side of the Arena Tower that is furthest away from the King's Tower to prevent any Skeletons from spawning near it. *The Graveyard can be used as an adequate substitute to the Goblin Barrel. The upsides of the Graveyard is that it spawns more troops than the Goblin Barrel and is less predictable and can deal more damage quickly, while the downsides are that it is more expensive, harder to obtain/upgrade, and is more risky. *Due to its 3s spawn time of the first skeleton (1s server delay + 2s deploy time), it is not a good reactive card and may be required to be placed beforehand. *A way to use this card for a rush is to place the Hog Rider as a distraction while placing the Graveyard on the side of the Princess Tower you want to attack, usually combined with the Rage. *Graveyard + Inferno Tower can easily take out the P.E.K.K.A. + Double Prince Combo even if the opponent Zaps the Inferno Tower. *Since the Graveyard summons Skeletons quickly in 10 seconds, unless your enemy has high damage spells or Poison, you can use it as a last resort defense before the timer runs out. History * The Graveyard was released on 28/10/16. * On 1/11/16, its description was changed to its current description. Prior to this, its description was "Unearths a gang of Skeletons anywhere in the Arena. Spooky!" * On 11/8/17, a Balance Update decreased the Graveyard's duration to 9 seconds (from 10 seconds), consequently causing it to spawn 2 fewer Skeletons (15 instead of 17). * On 9/10/17, the October 2017 Update increased the Graveyard's duration to 10 seconds (from 9 seconds), reduced its radius to 4 tiles (from 5), made the first Skeleton spawn 0.5 seconds slower, and made the spawn mechanics of the Skeletons less random. Trivia * It is the second troop-spawning spell, the other being the Goblin Barrel. * A player named Backstabx won The Crown Duel tournament with Graveyard decks. * The Graveyard is one of the two Legendary spell cards, the other being The Log. * The Graveyard is one of the 11 cards associated with Skeletons, including the Skeletons, Bomber, Skeleton Army, Witch, Tombstone, Bomb Tower, Giant Skeleton, Balloon, Skeleton Barrel, and Guards. It is currently the only Legendary card and spell card associated with Skeletons. * The Graveyard and the Miner are the only Legendary Cards who do not drop from the sky when deployed. They instead pop up from underground. * The small tombstones visual effect can be seen in this card's image and also when this card is deployed. This effect is taken from Clash of Clans when Elixir troops die. *In Clash of Clans, there is a similar spell called the Skeleton Spell, which summons Skeletons within its radius. It originally summoned its Skeletons all at once, but has since been reworked to behave similarly to the Graveyard. de:Friedhof es:Cementerio fr:Cimetière it:Cimitero ru:Кладбище